Friends Forever
This episode written by Steven Ungrey shows Sam and Lahoma Lucas (of Somerset) looking over a photo album with pictures of a young Anyssa Rayburn and their daughter, Susie as children, and revealing something that we all kind of knew, but was confirmed, that Susie and Anyssa are sisters, due to Anyssa growing up with her. It was late afternoon when Sam Lucas walked in the door of his Oklahoma City home, only to find Lahoma lost in thought on the couch. "There's my beautiful gal," Sam said, as he came over to plant a kiss on Lahoma... only to find she was studying a photo album. Lahoma smiled, turned and kissed Sam, and put her arm around him as Sam sat down. "I was just thinking back," Lahoma said. "All of these pictures we got from Susie in Chicago... our daughter was a knockout." "Yes," Sam said. "The nice thing is now you can print these pictures off your phone. And they never fade. Or you can have them on your computer." Lahoma wiped a couple tears away. "You wish more pictures from when Susie was younger were around, don't you," Sam said. Nodding in agreement, Lahoma turned to Sam and shared another kiss with him. "Don't get me wrong, I love the pictures I have of Susie growing up through the years," Lahoma said. "But there was one in particular that got to me..." As Sam turned to the photo album, he looked at the photo Lahoma had in front of her. It was Susie, all of five years old, getting ready to go to kindergarten for the first day with Anyssa Rayburn. "Oh, to have that head of dark hair once again," Sam said with a laugh. "We were just one year removed from being separated, remember?" Sam nodded. "Christmas 1974. It was a special Christmas indeed. I came home to Oklahoma and shortly after that we moved to Oklahoma City so I could take a job at a law firm." "This was at the old house," Lahoma said. "I still miss that place." Sam and Lahoma's old home, unfortunately, was in the path of the tornado that went through Oklahoma City in 1999, but so far they had been lucky living in what was referred to as "Tornado Alley". Sam and Lahoma remembered the promise they had made through the years. Allan and Diane Rayburn had been attorneys who had made friends with the Lucases while they lived in Somerset.Sam and Allan had been old friends of many years. He had stood up at Allan's wedding to Diane, and Allan had been at his wedding to Lahoma. Even though Sam and Lahoma had moved to Oklahoma City the Rayburns remained in touch, and the Lucases were devastated when they heard Allan and Diane had died in a car accident. It had been the Rayburns' wish to have Sam and Lahoma help raise Anyssa, and that was where she and Susannah quickly bonded. "Did you ever think Susie would take so kindly to having another girl around the house?" Lahoma asked. "Yes. Susie always wondered why we never had another child. In a way, Anyssa was that child," Sam said as he studied more photos. "Oh God... the rodeos." "You've eaten your fair share of steaks at Cattleman's," Lahoma laughed. "I would think you'd want to see your future meals in action, right?" "Lahoma Vane Lucas... I'll have you know I've eaten lots of steak over the years and still get great checkups from the doctor..." "That's not what I meant," Lahoma said with another laugh. "The little britches rodeo. Did you ever imagine our grown daughters..." "Our grown daughters, who have become accustomed to wearing business suits..." Sam said. "Would look at home in cowgirl hats and boots and have so much fun at a rodeo." "Do you remember their first day of school together?" Lahoma asked. "I do. Where did you take them again?" "John A. Brown," Lahoma said, in reference to an old department store chain, that had been based in Oklahoma City, that had been swallowed over the years by other companies. "Susie and Anyssa loved that place. They got the prettiest dresses for kindergarten and that first day." "Lahoma... you know Susie is eventually going to give you a grandchild. If Ellen doesn't beat her to it," Sam laughed. "Oh Sam... it's not about new kids. Anyssa gave us four grandchildren at once, when the quads were born. And Ellen is our granddaughter by Susie, via adoption. So, we're not hurting for grandchildren. It's about remembering what these girls were like when they were younger. Before they grew up into such..." "Such beautiful young women," Sam finished for her, "and darling, our daughters are both very beautiful." Lahoma looked at other photos. There were pictures of Anyssa and Susie through the years. Susie had been accepting of Anyssa the minute she walked into the old Lucas house. She was the first one to bring Anyssa around the neighborhood to show off her new friend and family member. Their first conversation lasted longer than a few minutes. It was that gift of gab that later made Susie so endearing to Patrick. "Look at that picture of Anyssa and Susie in their little cowgirl outfits," Lahoma smiled, "those two with their stick horses. They looked adorable." Sam laughed, "You know, Anyssa jokes that she thinks that no court, judge, and jury would ever consider that picture of her as cute." Lahoma laughed too, "I know," she said, "but I got a call from Judge Adrianne Austin in Boston, one of the judges who knows her, and she said, that Anyssa in that picture was just too adorable Susie and Anyssa grew up through the school years as "sisters" and best friends. What they were not aware of, at least not right away, was the Rayburns wanted Anyssa to attend boarding school when she was old enough. It broke the Lucases' hearts to do so, but it had to be done. The boarding school, Plaisance Academy, was located not too far away from Somerset. It was in Chicago, roughly two hours east. To complete some special classes which could not be done in Chicago, she attended Harper Academy; although she was still a student at Plaisance. Sam and Lahoma remembered back to that day when Susie and Anyssa said goodbye to each other... --- Anyssa looked around the house as her bags were packed. "Would you girls like a little time alone?" Lahoma said, wiping a couple tears away. "I think we would, Mom," Susannah said. Lahoma and Sam retreated to the background as Susie and Anyssa faced each other. "I guess this is goodbye?" Anyssa said. Susie shook her head. "I hate goodbyes," Susie said. "I wish there were an instant way to keep in touch with each other." If only Susie had invented e-mail or cellphones, she later thought to herself. She could have retired at age 30. "Well, this really isn't a goodbye," Anyssa said. "I am going to keep in touch with Mr. and Mrs. Lucas... and you... you've become like a real sister to me over the years." "We are... sisters." It was that bond that made Anyssa and Susie so unbreakable over the years. True to form, five years later they would reconnect at Northwestern as the two went to school with Bryan and Patrick. And, even as they went their separate ways to start a career, the phone (and later the computer and e-mail) would keep them close by. Still, they had lost touch for a bit. Just before Susie underwent her heart problems, the two reconnected. It was almost losing Susie that made Anyssa realize she never again would be without her "bestest friend" by her side. "Can we make a pact? We never will lose touch with each other. Never," Anyssa said. Susie held out her hand. "Friends forever," Susie said. Then she held out her other hand and took Anyssa closer. "Forever," Susie repeated. Anyssa squeezed Susie's hands and let the tears flow. "Forever," Anyssa said. And with that the two girls shared a long hug. --- Sam and Lahoma were looking at other photos from years gone by. Lahoma still treasured the photo of Susie, all of 16 years old, decked out in a black and red flowery dress for her first day of working alongside Sam at his law firm. Several years later, Susie traded in the dress for a black business suit, the same suit she eventually would have altered to give to Ellen for her first day of shadowing Patrick at Somerset Hospital, as Susie began her career as a lawyer working alongside Sam. On some occasions, they visited Anyssa at Plaisance Academy, and the family was reunited, in a sense. In spite of her last name being Rayburn, Anyssa's parents were known to be Sam and Lahoma. The year Anyssa had become Sophomore Princess in the Homecoming Court, the Lucases had proudly attended the game. There were other pictures. Susie attended rodeos, but without Anyssa it wasn't the same. As she grew up though, she found new avenues. Softball was Susie's game. That, and running. "Could you have imagined Anyssa cheering on Susie as she was pitching?" Sam said. "In a minute!" Lahoma said. "She would have been whistling. As it was, Anyssa was so happy when we called her to say Susie's team won the state championship." "And the year that Anyssa was named Homecoming Queen her senior year at Plaisance," Sam said, "we just had to be there for her to reign over the homecoming game and dance. Susie had a blast." "I do remember that," Lahoma said, "Anyssa looked truly beautiful, especially in that dress that Susie brought her." Anyssa's dress had been very special. It had been made of a special fabric that Susie had found at Dillard's, when she was still in OKC. It was a beautiful dress that Susie knew would look beautiful on her sister. Along with some of the other pictures, Sam and Lahoma had always gotten pictures of Anyssa from her school days at Plaisance. And her Senior picture was right next to Susannah's. There was one picture, however, that caught their eye. It was a picture of Susie and Anyssa that was taken in her bedroom at the old house. The two girls were sitting on the floor and playing with a couple of their favorite dolls. Both of them were playing with baby dolls that they had gotten for Christmas that year. "I want to scan that photo," Sam said. "I have an idea." Lahoma was intrigued. She looked on as Sam was taking that picture and another one and scanning the two of them together. --- Soon, in Susie's living room and on the mantle of Anyssa and Bryan's home fireplace in their living room, there would sit a photo. On the left was the old Susie and Anyssa picture of playing with their dolls. On the right, Anyssa and Susie were all grown up, at their Uncle Aaron and Aunt Marta's wedding, sharing a drink together and smiling for the camera. Friends forever. Category:Episodes Category:Episodes penned by Steven Ungrey Category:Hall of Fame Episodes Category:Episodes featuring Anyssa and Susannah